No one wants to die alone
by Dokkaebi'sBride
Summary: Is it at all possible to escape the darkness once you've been touched by it? Are some people more deserving of a second chance than others? Can someone who has spent so long being sad find true happiness? That's something Ally is fighting to figure out. Rate M in later chapters for some heavy content and hard hitting themes. Malachai/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: had this idea niggling in the back of my mind for a little while. This story will feature plotpoints from the show but will mostly run its own course so if things happen a little differently then thats why. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 ****

 **It was 18 minutes past midnight when Ally's ugly orange Camaro came to a wheezing stop just outside of Riverdale.**

With a snort she shook her head.

It was as if the car was it's own sentient being, a being that could sense the darkness of Riverdale and wanted no part of it.

She agreed with the hunk of metal, heck she wanted no part of it either.

Her journey down here had been a tiring one, but the weather had been rather sunshine filled up until about an hour ago when the sun had been stolen by a swirling cloud of black and grey and purple.

Another ominous sign.

Not surprising since she was literally on the outskirts of hell.

She sat in her car for a few moments then reached for her phone.

Surgery on a human was a cakewalk for her, but the same could not be said for cars.

Which meant she would have to call for a tow truck and an uber.

Inside her purse, Ally's credit card cried.

Ally let out an irritated exhale, as the signal on her phone flashed from 1 bars to two then back to one and then nothing.

Grabbing the discarded cardigan from the backseat of her car, she wrapped it tightly around herself, and clutching her phone in her left hand, bravely stepped out into the storm.

Immediately she regretted her decision.

It was freezing, and it took barely no time at all- 2 minutes and 43 seconds to be exact- for the rain to seep through her clothing, leaving it sodden and sticking uncomfortably to her skin.

Her right hand protested in the cold, the dull ache becoming sharper as the rest of her numbed.

She called for the tow truck and then waited.

A sharknosed bmw roared past without pause, its driver and passengers howling and roaring with laughter as they cut through the storm, spraying Ally with a weapon of sharp and icy rain.

She swore at them loudly.

They disappeared into the rain with more howling.

About 4 minutes later she spotted a red car, racing towards her.

Well, she heard it first. The loud purring engine harmonising with hooting and hollering was fierce and undeterred, fighting with the rainfall trying to drown it out.

She expected the car to speed off and spray her like the previous; it was obvious to her now that the nightriders were engaging in some sort of streetrace.

So it came to her as a surprise when the red vehicle paused by hers.

It shot forward, then fell back, then shot forward; teasing and testing her until it came to a stop right in front of her.

Closer and more focused in her vision she could see the shadows in the vehicle had now formed into people.

Spiky, leather coated people.

Serpents?

She swallowed.

A studded cuffed arm hung idly out of the car window, followed by a mop of curls with a lazy smile.

He looked her up and down slowly; she was not an unpleasant looking thing, in fact if she was one for self praise, Ally would have to say she was a lot more than pleasant looking, and rather quite beautiful.

Though that may have been a factor in having eyes currently on her, she assumed that the main reason was more due to the state the rain had left her in; her clothing was stuck to her like a second skin and today of all days she had skipped out on wearing a bra.

Frowning she folded her arms over her chest.

The lazy smile formed a mischievous smirk.

"You look like you could use a ride."

Ally turned on her heels, and laughter left her, fading into the distance as the red vehicle pulled out and drove off, searching for the next thrill.

Shortly after, a cab arrived.

* * *

"You been to Riverdale before?"

The cab driver questioned after a long portion of the journey was spent in uncomfortable silence. Her eyes which had been closed, immersed in the pitter patter of ricocheting rain and struggling to fight much needed sleep that was trying to consume her, opened.

She sent a hardened hazel stare through the rear view mirror.

"No."

The cab driver nodded, the old man averting his eyes before returning them back to her.

"Well then as you're a newcomer let me give you some advice,"

She raised an eyebrow.

"As soon as you can i'd get out of the Southside, those serpents running around everywhere are trouble."

Ally nodded.

She could attest to that, she had no intention of involving herself with those snakes any more than patching them up if she ever found them in the ED.

She promised herself that as soon as she'd finished her residency in Southside General Hospital she'd head somewhere like Beijing or London.

When the sight of fancy flashing buildings and quaint suburban homes started to disappear and her surroundings become more dismal and grey, Ally became more unsettled.

Her leg bounced upwards and to stop her trembling right hand she curled it into a fist.

If she had it her way she would've rented a room in the Four seasons hotel she had passed-no actually if she had it her way she wouldn't be completing her residency in Riverdale at all.

But in her previous hospital a few towns over, Ally's mentor had hated her and jumped on the chance to get rid of her, exiling her to the most hellish town he could find.

And a town rife with murder scandals and gang wars was perfect.

There was also the added unintentional bonus of her past that she didn't want to even think of.

Ally couldn't stop the thoughts of said unsaid events plaguing her mind, and the agitated trembles became more aggressive.

The cab driver thought she was shivering because of the cold and turned up the heater.

 _It's fine they won't recognise you, not with the new nose and shaved jawline anyway._

She inhaled and exhaled to calm herself.

That was right, she'd paid good money for her makeover, removing as many traces of her family's prominent features as she could.

Sometimes she would even forget that she wasn't a natural blonde.

"Those Ghoulies too, the Serpents are criminals but the Ghoulies are criminals and crazy."

Ghoulies?

What a ridiculous name.

She wondered if the studded streetracers she had encountered were Ghoulies; most likely since they had definitely seemed to fit the profile of crazy.

The cab came to a stop in front of what could only be described as the epitome of sleazy motels.

A garish pinky purple neon sign blinked overhead, aptly reading _'Apego'_ , spanish for addiction.

She didn't really know what she had expected to end up with when she asked the cab driver to take her to the cheapest motel near Southside General Hospital but she supposed this was exactly it, yellow paint-chipped stained walls, strong smells of alcohol and weed laced with death.

The cab driver noticed she was yet to make an attempt to leave the vehicle, and he turned to her with a look of understanding.

"I can take you somewhere else, there's some nice places in the Northside of town, they can be a little pricey but they're safer for a young thing like you."

Ally supposed she should have said yes to something safer, the Four seasons had looked awfully inviting and a night or two there wouldn't exactly put her out of pocket, but she had grown up for so long without any state of comfort that discomfort seemed like a preferred state.

Besides, the money she made wasn't for her but her little brother. She could live without a lavish life if it meant her brother could eventually have a better one.

"No, it's alright."

The man gave her a look like she was sentencing herself to death, reluctantly letting her pay her fare and remove her belongings from his car.

"Good luck kid."

Ally held her breath as she made her way towards the front desk of Motel Apego.

A plump woman with overspilling curves and dark plum coloured lips acknowledged Ally through a hazy swirling cloud of smoke.

The woman assessed her like an animal assessing its prey, searching for strengths and weaknesses. She mumbled something in spanish about Ally being too skinny, not enough meat on her bones, easy bait and a doll that would be broken easily.

Ally's fierce stare made the woman realise she understood her. She rolled her cigarette to the side of her mouth so she could speak.

"You lost girlie?"

What she was really asking was-no she wasn't asking anything but rather giving Ally a warning.

A nice girl like you shouldn't be in a place like this.

But Ally wasn't that much of a nice girl.

"I'd like a room." Then she added perfunctory "please."

A cloud of ash was blown into her face, burning her nostrils.

"How many nights?"

"You have any longstanding guests in this place?"

The woman plucked the cigarette from her lips to flick ash in a tray, it was rimmed with a smudgy purple.

"A few."

"I'll be in town for a while." Ally explained and the woman laughed.

"Don't be so sure chickadee."

"I'm always sure." She shot back firmly, and the woman's features morphed from doubtful amusement to curiosity.

"Well then, here's your keys."

* * *

Ally jolted upright, forcefully brought out of her slumber by the sound of shattering glass. Scanning the room for her intruder she let out a relieved exhale when she caught sight of a fluffly orange thing hopping on top of the dresser.

"How did you get in here?"

She frowned, kicking off the garish peacock print bedsheets and moving straight for the door, avoiding the smashed vase and sad looking flower in the process.

Locked.

She headed to the bathroom, finding the window slightly ajar. Stretching on the tips of her toes she yawned, pushing it shut.

Her furry intruder purred, loud and demanding but she had nothing to give it. She didn't even have anything for herself, the grumbling of her stomach being a reminder of that.

"Come on furball out you go, I don't want you and I have nothing for you."

She had managed to coax the cat to the door to her motel room, and nudged it with her foot, pushing it across the threshold and into the outside.

As the cat protested she shut the door firmly and locked it.

Ally glanced at the digital clock in her motel room, outdated much like the rest of the furniture. She wasn't sure when it had stopped working, but she was pretty sure that it was not 11:03am because otherwise that would make her horrendously late.

Reaching for her handphone, a much more reliable piece of technology she saw it was actually 5:16am.

Which meant she had just under 45 minutes to get dressed and eat.

Where would she even go to eat? Maybe she could ask the woman on the desk, if she was even there at this time of day.

She'd probably have to settle for a chocolate bar from a vending machine.

Whilst she dressed, Ally was reminded of the fact that she currently had no car, which meant she was going to have to get a cab to the hospital, and call up the shop later to check on the Camaro.

She left the motel in a hurry, not noticing a familiar red car in the parking lot.

* * *

Ally had hardly eaten anything all day. The hospital had been surprisingly busy and sadly unexciting- the brunt of the patients were drunken and overdosed youth, sprinkled in with the odd few motorcycle mishaps involving a few snakes.

It was about 10pm when Ally and a handful of other had been given an hour window of freedom before they were to return for the nightshift, so with food on their minds they had travelled from south to north and ended up in a booth in Pops chocklit shop. It had took Ally some convincing to go, Pops chocklit shop was popular among Riverdale's youth, which meant there was a high chance of her bumping into her baby brother. After a self reminder that she had a new face, and the persistent whining of her sort of friend Chloe, Ally eventually yielded. Chloe was one of the other residents, and had followed Ally to Riverdale.

Well not exactly followed since the girl had arrived in Riverdale a day earlier courtesy of her dads private chauffeur. Ally had been reluctant to befriend the petite brunette, at first thinking her a vapid rich kid, but after being stuck with her as a shadow during medical school Ally had realised that she was actually quite lovely, and only a little bit naive.

"The milkshakes here are my favourite." Chloe exclaimed, clapping her hands as a second pink shake was slid along the counter in front of her. Ally sipped her coffee and finished the last of her fries.

"Down your pink drink quickly we gotta head back to the E.D." "Ally's right," Agreed another resident doctor, and to their surprise Chloe gulped down the drink like a man would a pint of beer. "Okay let's pay and go."

As Ally reached for the door it swung open, and she collided with a teen. Normally she would have yelled at the kid and told him to watch it, but her words had gotten lost and she could do nothing but blink and stare.

 _That ridiculous hat._

Oh god. "My bad sorry." He mumbled brows furrowed at her shocked state. She blinked and smoothed out her scrubs and nodded.

 _When had he gotten so tall?_

"Cool hat."

She offers a smile that only deepens his frown.

"Uh thanks."

Ally moves, stepping one foot out of the door.

"Ah wait a second.."

A cold dread rushes through her, freezing her in place.

"What is it?"

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

Ally pulls herself together, a calm mask and a smile.

"Not at all, we've never met."

* * *

Well I hope you guys liked this first chapter! And I hope you'll get to know and like Ally too. See ya next time! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Ally had hopes that her second day in Riverdale would be marginally better than the first.**

The day started with her phone being stolen by a ghoulie.

She had managed to locate a coffee shop, thanks to the help of a colleague, a nurse by the name of Jacob. He had offered to be her chauffeur for the morning, until she could pick up her own wheels from the auto shop later that evening.

With a hot cup of java to go in her hands, Ally had barely made it out of the door of the quaint little coffee shop when a spiked body collided with hers.

The coffee cup was sent flying, and Ally was almost knocked off her feet, before the person responsible grabbed her to stabilise both herself and him.

"Watch it!"

She hissed angrily at the teen with a close shaved head, which he quickly covered with a hood, ducking his head down and mumbling a half-assed apology. Ignoring the puddle of untouched coffee, she watched the retreating form of the kid, his skull studded jacket sparkling in the sunlight.

Realisation hit her as soon as his casual walk increased in tempo and he started to leg it down the street.

Slipping her hand into her pocket, her assumptions were confirmed.

"That little shit."

She growled, just as Jacob joined her infront of the cafe.

"What is it?"

"That ghoulie kid just stole my phone."

* * *

Without her morning coffee, Ally was miserable for the rest of the day.

After the residents were lined up for a long lecture, they were separated into various departments.

Ally prayed to be put in resus, and was instead stuck with cubicles.

"We have a 17 year old patient in cubicle four, he had an accident with a motorbike."

Jacob nodded to said cubicle, where Ally noticed a jacket she had seen earlier that morning.

With a smile on her face she accepted the patient from him.

Pushing back the curtain she smirked when the teen caught sight of her, eyes wide as he jumped up in shock.

"Argh!"

He groaned, wincing due to the sudden movement.

"Careful."

Ally warned, stepping closer and pushing the kid back down on the bed with a shove.

"Keep nice and still, I wouldn't want you to get hurt anymore by trying to run away."

She spoke to him, her tone sugary and as false as her friendly smile.

The boy tried to get up and move, but stopped as she tutted, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him back down to the bed.

"What did I tell you." She hummed.

"It's funny how karma works out isn't it, the woman whose phone you steal just so happens to be the doctor who is going to treat you."

She smiled at him as he gulped.

"Don't worry kid, i'm very professional."

She checked the chart for his preliminary assessment; suspected rib fracture and a sprained ankle.

"Suspected rib fracture, let me see..."

She hummed, pressing her hand down over his ribs, perhaps applying more pressure than she would usually.

The boy groaned and yelled and whimpered.

"Yep" She popped the p," Definitely a fracture."

Her eyes flickered to his ankle, and as she moved towards it, he jumped up, pulling the leg away from her before she could examine it.

When the ghoulie kid let out a shockingly loud yell, one of the senior doctors pulled back the curtain.

"Everything okay in here?"

Ally blinked innocently.

"Everything's fine."

"I don't have your phone alright!"

The boy moaned, sucking air in through his teeth.

Ally folded her arms.

"Of course not, by now you've probably sold it on right?"

Then she turned to the senior doctor.

"I've got this it's fine."

He didn't budge.

"I want a new doctor, get me a different doctor, she was gonna hurt me."

Ally arched an eyebrow.

"I was assessing your pain levels, if you're hurting that much I can give you a needle."

The boys arms widened in alarm.

"No, no needles."

"Dr James." The senior gave her a firm glance," Why don't you go check on cubicle 7?"

He wasn't asking but telling.

"Fine." She huffed.

"But that kid's a thief so make sure his treatment is as painful as possible." She said with a wink, waggling her fingers at the ghoulie before turning on her heels.

10 minute later Ally had successfully managed to redress a wound and prescribe two people medicine. She led one of her patient to the reception to discharge them, finishing up the necessary paperwork before handing them over to a nurse.

When she turned around, she spotted a limping ghoulie.

"Going somewhere kid?"

She clamped a hand on his shoulder and he jolted, stumbling in panic.

"B-bathroom."

"Toilets are over there."

Ally spun him around, pointing in the direction opposite to where he was heading.

"Oh, right,"

The teen scratched his ear.

"This place is pretty big, it can be confusing."

Ally nodded, pretending to be understanding.

"Why don't I get you an escort so you don't get lost."

Waving her hand in the air she flagged down the first nurse she spotted.

"Jacob!"

"What no, I.." The teen sighed slumping in defeat as Ally guided him to a wheelchair.

"Come on, back to cubicles with you."

Jacob joined her as she returned the injured ghoulie to his cubicle.

"Hey senior," She shouted, drawing the attention of the man who had dismissed her earlier.

"Found something that belongs to you."

* * *

Ally was in the on call room, draped over a couch trying to get at least 10 minutes of shut eye, when a panicked looking Chloe hurried in, shaking her shoulder incessantly until she budged.

"Alright, alright. what?"

She whined rubbing her eyes and switching to a sitting position. Chloe sat down beside her, trembling as she tugged on Ally's arm.

There's a huge group of ghoulies in reception, they're threatening our doctors."

Ally groaned.

"What do you want me to do about it? Don't we have security?"

Chloe chewed her lip, smudging her pink lipstick.

"I heard that security are dealing with another issue up in orthopaedics."

Ally rolled her eyes. Of course.

"I also heard that one of our security guys is a ghoulie."

Gathering her hair, Ally pulled it up into a ponytail and grabbed her stethoscope.

"You wait here, i'll go take a look then."

Chloe's eyes widened.

"No maybe we should both wait, I don't think its a good-"

Ally had already made it out of the door.

"Idea."

When Ally got to reception, it was flooded with rowdy gang members. They were a variety of ages, from what she guessed was early teens to late 20's, perhaps even 30's

Only one of them actually seemed to be injured, slumped in a chair with blood dripping from his ear.

She met eyes with Jacob, who was a safe distance away with a team of his nurses.

He shook his head in a warning as she stepped closer to the scene.

The senior doctor closest to the injured ghoulie was thrown into a medicine trolley.

"Senior what've we got here?"

She smiled at the older man who was currently picking himself up from the floor.

The thug that had just shoved her senior walked towards her.

"What are you a nurse?"

He asked looking Ally up and down with a smarmy stare.

She sneered.

"Can't you tell? I'm a doctor."

Her senior straightened out his glasses.

She turned to him, ignoring the thug.

"What's wrong with that guy?"

She nodded her chin towards the bleeding ghoulie.

"Hard to tell no visible signs of head injury, so we need to run tests."

Ally nodded.

"Let's get him to a bed then." Waving her left hand she motioned towards the group of nurses.

"Jacob get him into a wheelchair would you."

The nurse widened his eyes, hesitantly nodding.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The ghoulie grabbed Ally's arm as she took hold of the wheelchair.

"What is it you think doctors do?"

As they moved down the corridor the whole group of ghoulies followed.

Stopping she turned to the gang with a disgruntled sigh.

"This is the area where we treat patients, so unless you have an issue that needs seeing to by a doctor or nurse then get out."

The ghoulie in the hospital bed peeled his eyes open.

"Tell this woman to get out."

Ally spun around to him.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I wont be treated by a woman, get me another doctor."

Ally laughed planting her hands on her hips.

"I'm a woman to you? All i see is a doctor and a patient, so quit being pissy and let me look at your or i'll let you die."

The ghoulies weren't so happy with the last words of that sentence. Ally was grabbed roughly, pulled away from the bleeding ghoulie.

"Hey watch how you speak to us, Don't you know who we are?"

"Yes yes I get it, you're a gang that's big and scary."

She pulled her arm out of the thugs grasp with a hard tug.

"And this one right here." She pointed at the ghoulie in the hospital bed.

"Must be pretty important to you guys right, that's why there's so many of you all worried about him."

His consciousness was slipping again, and the bleeding didn't seem to be stopping.

"He's in a really bad way right now and the longer we leave it the worse he's gonna get."

Making sure she had his attention, she bent down in front of his face.

"So you can get over the fact that i'm not a man and tell these boys of yours to wait outside hmm?"

* * *

"You're officially crazy." Jacob exclaimed flailing his gangly arms in the air as he rejoined Ally, once she returned from neurology.

Ally shrugged.

"This hospital is on the Southside, we gotta learn how to handle gangs since they make up the majority of the patients in here."

Jacob's mouth dropped open in a mixture of awe and disbelief. He shook his head as she followed him to the nurses station to collect a patient file.

"As cool as you were, the ghoulies really aren't ones you should get on the bad side of, especially not that one that you just sent up to the neurosurgeons."

"Why, he their leader or something?"

"No, the leader of the ghoulies is someone called Malachai, that was his second in command Drac."

Ally pursed her lip. Nodded. Shrugged again.

Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose at her behaviour.

"Ah, just say you'll be careful."

Walking along the aisle of cubicles Ally flipped through the patient file in her hands. In the corner of her eye something caught her interest.

She paused, backtracked and stopped in front of the half open curtain revealing an empty bed.

"Jacob, please tell me this kid has gone up to x-ray and not ran off again."

The nurse made a quick phone call, the look on his face told Ally that her suspicions were true.

"I'll see if I can chase him up."

Jacob offered, "Can't of gotten too far with an injured foot."

Ally hummed an approval, moving on to the next patient.

A young girl with a dreamcatcher tattoo on her neck and a suspected distal radial fracture.

She was shortly joined by Chloe and Jacob.

"I don't think my patient would approve of an audience."

She clucked, giving the two a pointed stare.

The patient sucked in a sharp breath.

"Give the lady some more morphine Jacob."

Turning to Chloe she raised an eyebrow.

"What is it this time?"

"Jacob told me about the boy that ran away and I was just thinking, what was he running from?"

Ally shrugged. (She did a lot of shrugging.)

Truthfully the thought had been niggling in the back of her mind. It wasn't uncommon for patients to up and leave but something about the situation didn't seem right.

"Book this one in for an x-ray." She told Jacob, leaving with Chloe to pick up a new patient file from the nurses station.

"Maybe the kid doesn't like hospitals, he didn't seem too happy when I suggested giving him a needle."

Chloe nodded.

"Wait maybe he thought you were going to call the cops on him, he was the one who stole your phone right?"

"Perhaps, kid's a ghoulie so he's probably got an extensive criminal record already."

They both agreed that was the case, but something still didn't sit 100% well with Ally.

Seeing the look on her friends face, Chloe pouted.

"What else could there be?"

That's when it hit her.

After the exhibit in the reception earlier, the ghoulies had quietened down significantly, and now were nowhere to be seen.

"When did the ghoulies leave?"

She asked the guy at the front desk who told her they had vanished not too long ago.

"You stay here, I think i know where that kid is."

She told Chloe, heading out of the hospital doors and around to the entrance of the morgue.

She didn't expect Chloe to follow, but the girl was like a puppy and obediently (and unnecessarily) tagged along.

"I see them, I see them."

Chloe exclaimed, pointing over to a swarm of studded leather.

"Hey!"

Ally yelled, drawing the attention of the ghoulies.

Chloe squeaked from her side.

"Nothing to see here doc, we're just getting some air, hospitals can be real stuffy."

"What about the kid bleeding on the floor? Is he just getting air too?"

A young ghoulie moved his hand into view, the sharp piece of metal glinted, a threat with a none verbal warning.

Ally smirked.

"You really think you know how to use one of those better than a doctor?"

"Ally!" Chloe hissed from behind the blonde, trying to tug her away.

The gang members looked between one another, shuffling to try hide the body, one of them coughing to try disguise the kids pained groaning.

Ally was starting to get annoyed.

"Because to me it looked like he was getting attacked, and Assault and Battery is a criminal offence," She took a daring step closer.

"But most of you if not all are probably familiar with that."

"Now sadly, i can't call the police." She sighed sliding her hands into the pocket.

"Your guy hugging the ground stole my phone this morning you see."

She pushed through the ghoulies to reach the boy crouching down beside him.

"Isn't that right?"

The boy looked up at her through a swollen eye and spluttered, he winced as his cut lip stretched.

"Please."

He tried to move but Ally motioned for him to stay put. Chloe avoided the gaze of the ghoulies, squeezing through them and over to the boy to asses his wounds.

"I have my phone with me, shall I call the police?" She whispered, Ally shook her head.

"No, do that and the ghoulies will find a way to get back to this kids family."

"Then what do we do?"

"Please.." The boy begged, "I'll give you your phone back."

His words came out in struggling wheezes with coughs in between. The two doctors shared unhappy looks, concerned by it. Ally especially so since she remembered the boy had been in a motorcycle accident earlier that morning.

The boy was perceptive though, and seemed to catch on that something was not right, and his eyes widened as much as they could through the swelling, he was panicked.

"They've really got it in for you huh kid, how much you owe them?"

"Five-" His face scrunched up and he spluttered.

"Five what? Puppies, kittens, children?"

"Five-thousand dollars." The smarmy thug corrected, Ally carefully shifted the teen, checking how clear his airways were.

"Jesus kid, what do you need that kind of money for."

"To get out."

Ally's eyes softened almost instantly. Then they hardened, she stood up and strode over to the smarmy thug.

"Is that the going rate these day? Price has changed a lot."

"How'd you know, were you in a gang doc?"

One of the younger ghoulies sniggered, a couple other followed suit.

"You lot still remember that I told you to listen to the doctors earlier right?"

The ghoulies were silent, she took it as an affirmative.

"Good, well I want you to listen to what i'm about to say, you are still on hospital grounds afterall."

"Now listen a minute doc, just because we did what you wanted once doesn't mean you can start bossing us around, so why don't you just turn around walk away and leave us, this here's ghoulie business."

"Better idea."

Ally proposed.

"You turn around, walk away and let me treat the kid."

"We can't let you do that doc, the kid owes us."

Ally narrowed her eyes.

"I don't like being told no."

A switchblade was aimed at her throat.

"Here, this should cover his debt."

Ally turned her head, and so did the ghoulies, towards Chloe, who held out a shiny glittering accessory.

Ally widened her eyes, shot the girl a look that said 'what the hell are you doing?'

"it's just a ring."

It wasn't just a ring but in fact an engagement ring. A _very very very,_ expensive engagement ring.

Ally knew her friends relationship with her fiance was a little strained, but she didn't realise that things were so bad she'd give up her ring without a second thought, when she'd first been given it Chloe had cherished it like a child.

Chloe mumbled, "This kids' life is more important."

The ghoulies were quick to snatch up the shiny thing.

They made no attempt to move the blade away from Ally's throat.

"You know your friend Drac is in surgery right now."

The ghoulies eyes her cautiously wondering where she was going with her words.

"There's a lot of trainee doctors in the hospital lately, some of them are prone to mistakes, you see this hand."

She said lifting her right hand and waggling her fingers.

"Sometimes it likes to act a bit funny and doesn't do what i want it to do, if i'm not careful i could accidentally hurt someone."

The cold metal pressed closer against her throat, she could almost feel the tiny scratch as she swallowed.

"Is that a threat? You threatening us doc?"

Ally smiled.

"Nope, why would I do that? i'm a doctor I save lives."

There was a moment of hesitation, she could see the cogs turning in their head, the pocket knife was returned to its owners pocket, one of them mentioned to another about going to see the boss, the group divided and eventually the two doctors were left with the boy bleeding on the ground.

"You scare me so much sometimes Ally." Chloe said, her big round eyes glittering with tears.

"Grab a porter and tell them to bring around a trolley."

Chloe nodded, sniffling and rubbing her eyes as she hurried back to the main building.

Ally knelt down beside the ghoulie, offering him a smile.

"Right trouble, what do I call you?"

"Tiny."

"Alright Tiny, lets get you fixed up." 

Back on a ward and in a bed, Ally was greeted with a worried shadow named Jacob.

"What were you thinking taking on the ghoulies on your own? And letting Chloe tag along too."

"I don't let Chloe do anything, I told her to stay behind but she followed."

"You're crazy."

Ally ignored him.

"Jacob this is Tiny, maybe you remember him from this morning."

The boy gave the nurse a feeble wave.

"On top of his injuries from earlier he now has some lovely facial lacerations and bruises, he wasn't K.O'd, GCS 15, pulse is at 85, bp is 125/80 and sat are at 96%"

Jacob sighed at her dismissal of his concern.

"Can you get him 1gram of paracetomol and titrate up some morphine if his pain gets any worse."

"Uh Doc."

Ally turned to the kid. "Yeah?"

His hand fished into his pocket, sliding out a smartphone, Ally took it.

The screen was now cracked.

* * *

Ally had completely forgotten that she was supposed to pick up her car from the auto shop.

Not knowing what the hours where, she decided she would head there between the normal 9-5 working hours.

Chloe had kindly offered to give her a ride.

"Do you really want to stay in a place like this?"

Chloe frowned at the sight of her friends current living space.

"Come stay with me at the five seasons, i have a spare room."

Ally shook her head, stepped out of the vehicle.

Chloe stopped the engine and followed.

"Why do you do these things to yourself, do you think your brother would be happy letting you live so uncomfortably just for his sake?"

"You didn't have to give them your ring you know."

Ally was an expert at changing conversation when she didn't want it to be about her.

"Chloe went quiet, staring at the empty space on her finger.

"Honestly I wanted an excuse to get rid of it," Then in an almost whisper, "I don't want to marry him."

"Then don't."

Chloe sighed.

"It's not so easy."

Ally rolled her eyes, and her head.

She saw orange.

An orange 1973 Camaro.

 _Her ugly orange 1973 Camaro._

"That car looks just like yours."

Chloe had noticed it too, but naively not made the connection.

Ally's Camaro was supposed to be in the auto repair shop, so Chloe hadn't expected it to be anywhere but there.

"Right?"

The drives seat of the Camaro opened, revealing curly hair and dark mischievous eyes.

Ally had seen those eyes before, the night her car had broke down in the rain.

"This pretty baby's yours right?"

"Oh you must be from the auto shop?" Chloe said.

The ghoulie smiled.

Ally knew he was not.

Her arms were crossed, features scrunched into a sullen pout.

He tossed the keys towards Ally, Chloe aptly caught them.

The ghoulie turned to the brunette, all smiles.

"Nice catch doll."

He winked, Chloe blushed. Ally was immune to that sort of flirting.

She turned to her friend, throwing an arm over her shoulder and spinning her around in the opposite direction.

"I'll see you at the hospital tomorrow. Go get your beauty sleep."

She collected her car keys, shoving them in her pocket, leading Chloe to her car.

When her friend was safely out of sight she glanced over her shoulder, the ghoulie was still there, still watching.

As their eyes met he waggled leather coated fingers.

"You" She addressed him and he pointed at his torso with a finger _'me?'_ , his eyes danced with amusement.

"By the way my cars not pretty."

He laughed, not because he found her words funny, but because he found it funny that it was those words she chose to say to him, when there were other more obvious words, more obvious questions to ask, like who are you? Or why did you have my car?

She walked right past him and headed towards her motel room, the ghoulie followed.

"So you're a doctor?"

She stood there outside of the door, rummaging through her bag for her keys. The ghoulie leaned against the wall.

The ginger stray leaped up onto the balcony.

"Yeah." Her tone was cold, standoffish, the ghoulie still smiled.

"You have such a combative attitude."

Ally retrieved her room key, pushed it into the door, over her shoulder she shot him a look that said 'what of it?'

The ghoulie stepped forward, as she curled her fingers around the door handle to push it open, he covered her hand with his, pulling it shut, keeping her trapped between himself and the door.

His head ducked down, tilted towards her ear and with a dark whisper he spoke.

"I'd be careful with an attitude like that if I where you Ally, wouldn't want it to get you hurt."

The ghoulie pulled down on the door, it opened and he stepped backward.

When Ally turned to glare at him he winked then turned on his heels ,stuffing his hands in his pockets and leaving with a whistle.

Ally's hands curled into a fist. Her heart pounded.

She had never given the ghoulie her name.

* * *

 **A/N: I know there wasn't much of the regular Riverdale cast in this chapter but they will be arriving more frequently and predominantly from now on, just needed to get these first two chapters out of the way for some important set up.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: This update is a little later than i had planned, it's been a busy week so sorry about that. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites, i hope you continue to enjoy!**_

* * *

 **Sleep had a bit of a temperamental relationship with Ally.**

Sometimes it would be kind, allowing her mind and body respite, comforting her with an empty darkness once her eyes shut until they once again opened.

But other times it could be a cruel mistress.

Other times a peaceful sleep would not be on the cards, and as she drifted sleep would find her and then so would something else.

A nightmare.

The worst kind of nightmare that was a horrible truth. A horrible, horrible memory that she could hide from during the day with her distractions, but not when she was sleeping.

When she was asleep she couldn't escape, she was trapped in her own head forced to relive that dreadful day she lost everything.

It had been a while since she was waking up prematurely, panting and terrified, gasoline, blood and smoke burning her nostrils and squeezing her pounding heart.

No doubt her return to Riverdale had brought about the sudden reappearance of her night terror.

Clammy and overheated from a recent awakening, Ally rubbed her eyes with a sigh. This dreadful dream was like a progressing plague upon her, each time allowing her less and less shut eye.

Fisting her knotted hair in one hand she lifted it above her head, using the other hand to swipe away the beads of sweat that had stuck small strands of hair to the nape of her neck.

Her room seemed too tiny, too stuffy and she tucked the tank top she was wearing into a pair of jeans, slid on a pair of sneakers, grabbed her keys and stepped out onto the balcony.

It was a cold and crisp night, the wind bringing a subtle chill. Curling tongues of golden hair that was tinged a blinking neon purple blew around her face, licking at the sharp planes of her cheekbones, caressing her collarbones and wrapping around her neck like a silky scarf.

She shivered.

The moon was at its fullest, painting the parking lot with a pale silver, her ugly orange Camaro looked sort of pretty in this lighting, though she wouldn't dare admit it.

Their love-hate relationship relied on her hating it.

She frowned as she recalled it's brief affair with the curly haired ghoulie.

It was obvious the gang member had been searching for something, most likely information that he could use against her.

Ally was thankful her Camaro kept her secrets hidden well, though that was mostly due to the fact that there were no secrets in the vehicle that she had kept hidden.

Most people's cars told the stories of their owners through stains that smelled and looked questionable, a missing earring, half eaten snacks or the like. Chloe's car smelled like expensive perfume and was stuffed with empty shopping bags, a lost lipstick lid, two mismatched broken heeled shoes, a bra and a pair of pantyhose.

The only personal sort of thing Ally had was tampons in the glovebox,

She supposed though, now that she thought about it, that that still told something about her, the fact that she had nothing to find meant that she was going through the effort to hide something.

Or maybe she was just one of those people that liked to have a clean car.

Ally was not one of those people that cared about the cleanliness of her car.

Speaking of cars, she noticed an absence of the red car belonging to a certain ghoulie, and wondered briefly what sorts of things he kept hidden in his vehicle, Ally stopped those thoughts before they could get any further, she did not need to wonder about the likes of him, did she?

The ghoulie had found out her name somehow, and warned her pretty clearly not to cause trouble, though she supposed she had done herself no favours there by provoking them.

Ally shrugged it off.

It wasn't like the ghoulies knew her real name anyways.

Which meant they had nothing they could use against her.

She closed her eyes, embracing the cold air, wrapping her hands around the balcony railing and stretching up on her tiptoes.

The wind was starting to pick up, biting her cheeks and numbing the tip of her nose and her fingers and her lips.

An angry engine roared as it entered the parking lot, deafening heavy metal threatening the stillness.

She kept her eye closed, refusing to let it break her spell.

She sighed.

The motors and music eventually came to a stop.

She leaned forward just a little.

"You gonna jump?"

The spell was broken.

Her eyes opened to see the curious ghoul.

He half leaned, half sat propped up against the hood of his car, looking like an emissary of death with a long dark coat and eyes charcoaled black to mimic the sunken eye sockets of a skull.

He tilted his head, quirked an eyebrow, "well?"

"Would you try stop me if I said yes?"

She countered, and he made no move, just watched and waited, expecting her to do something or not.

Maybe the cold had numbed her brain, or maybe she was as curious to get a reaction out of him as he was her.

Her hands tighten and slowly, she tilts forward, starting to tip.

The ghoulie stands and she swings backwards, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

She releases the railing and fold her arms across her torso, tucking her hands into her armpits.

Now she was starting to feel the uncomfortable cold.

"Don't you think if I was going to jump, with my knowledge i'd do it somewhere higher? Falling from here would do some damage sure, but i'd still most likely survive."

The Ghoulie laughed at her little game.

But he was now even more curious.

Her actions were always unexpected, she'd mouthed off against his ghoulies without a worry, threatened them even and after he'd given her a warning she didn't seem all to bothered about living quietly.

it wasn't often he came across someone so unafraid, and he was yet to figure out the reasoning behind it, was she just stupid, or crazy?

Maybe a little of both, but there was definitely something else.

She was hiding something and he'd be damned if he didn't find out what.

He watched her turn away from the balcony, rubbing her fingers to relieve them from the cold enough so she could grab her keys.

"Night Ally!"

He shouted, reminding her that he had found out her name, and he would find out more.

He smirked when she flipped him a bird and disappeared though the door.

* * *

Ally had agreed to meet Jacob and Chloe for breakfast before their shift. She had tried to convince them against their desired location, Pop's chocklit shop. But her argument was not a very strong one; Pops had the best pancakes and since she couldn't tell them she wanted to avoid the place to avoid her brother, she didn't really have a leg to stand on when she instead complained about it being all the way over on the Northside.

Apparently the travel was worth it for the food.

And so begrudgingly she headed to the diner.

When she got there, she was immediately waved down into a booth by Jacob, who was already gulping down a coffee.

"Where's Chloe?"

She frowned, scanning the place but not finding the brunette anywhere.

"She err, I think she got called into the hospital early?" Jacob stumbled over his words, Ally knew he was lying.

"A trainee doctor is that important?"

Jacob spluttered.

"You know how busy the hospital gets."

Ally narrowed her eyes.

"Have you had Pop's pancakes? They're amazing."

He knew she knew he was lying.

"Maybe I should skip breakfast, head to the hospital, you know since they're so busy."

Ally stood, missing the disappointment in Jacob's eyes, because she had noticed something-someone else.

Her brother had slid into a booth, set up a laptop and started to type away.

"Ally?"

She blinked as she realised Jacob had been speaking to her.

"You okay?"

"Mhmm" She nodded, "i'm going to go order."

She smiled at him, though it was a false one, more preformative for her sake than his.

Jacob knew somehow, he didn't know the full of it but he knew there was something, but still he was happy that she was staying.

She made her way to the counter where Pop Tate approached her with a smile.

"What can I get you?"

"Pancakes and extra bacon," She chewed on her lip, looked over her shoulder, her brother was typing away furiously, immersed in his writing.

"For the kid in the beanie too, though don't tell him it's from me."

Pop Tate smiled, looked between her and Jughead and nodded, she wondered for a split second if he recognised her or if he was atleast reminded of the time when a young girl would come to the diner with her younger brother and feed him as many plates of pancakes as he wanted.

"Anything else?"

"Coffee, I could do with a coffee."

Jacob had quickly learned that Ally wasn't typically one for consistent conversation. she was rather blunt most times, answering plain and simple or not at all-he'd even seen her get reprimanded a few times by the senior doctors for her abruptness.

But still that didn't deter him from trying to get her to talk.

As she poked at her pancakes with a fork, he asked her about what hospital she had been working at before, why she had wanted to become an doctor and anything work related he could think off. Chloe had given him a few pointers not to talk about anything too personal with Ally, not if he didn't want her to build a brick wall between them.

Some people had difficult pasts, Chloe had said, and Ally didn't like to talk about hers.

He was worried Ally wasn't interested in him, mainly because she seemed so uninterested in their conversation, spacing out every so often.

It was pretty early in the morning though, so maybe she was just tired.

"So, what do you think of the pancakes?"

He asked her as she shovelled a forkful into her mouth.

"Ally?"

He followed where her gaze was fixed to the kid in the grey beanie that always seemed to be in the diner.

"You know that kid?"

"Hmm?" Ally blinked, shaking her head as she came back into the room.

"What? No, he just reminds me of someone."

Jacob nodded, not quite sure how to respond, since it was the first time he was seeing her so flustered-no not the first time, she had been shocked the other day when the same kid had bumped into her.

"Are you finished eating? We should probably head to work."

* * *

On her rounds, Ally first made a stop to see Tiny.

Neurology had kept him in their department to observe a small bleed on the brain he'd sustained, but with medication it had reduced, so he was going to be discharged.

"Hey kid."

She greeted the groggy teen, who had just recently woken.

"Morning doc!" He smiled cheerily and infectious and she couldn't help but reciprocate.

"Good news Tiny, you can go home today."

The kid's smile fell.

"I...home?"

Ally understood his sudden shift in mood.

"You lived with them?"

Tiny nodded.

"When I joined the ghoulies, my mom kicked me out."

Ally reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Have you spoken since?"

Tiny shook his head, his lip trembled.

Ally's heart tugged painfully.

"No, I...I called her once."

"She didn't pick up?"

"She did, but I couldn't say anything to her."

Ally blinked, holding back teary eyes as she smiled to console him.

"The fact that she answered, means that she still wants you. She must miss you very much."

Reaching into her pocket, she handed him her phone.

"Call your mother, tell her you want to come home."

"But the ghoulies..."

"Won't bother you again, i'll make sure of it."

As the teen started to dial Ally patted his shoulder then left the room to give him privacy.

Ally spotted one of the neurology residents hovering outside of the ICU, pacing back and forth.

"Something wrong?"

The resident doctor seemed relieved to see her.

"I need to check up on the ghoulie"

"Drac? the one that kicked up a big fuss?"

The fellow nodded shifting uncomfortably.

"What's the problem? He promised to behave."

The doctor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, stepped closer to her, eyes on his feet as he fumbled with his fingers and whispered.

"The Boss is in there. The ghoulie king."

Ally pursed her lips, glancing over at the door, finding herself quite curious. Surely whoever he was he couldn't be that terrifying.

"Come on, our priority is the patient and brain surgery is a big deal, if we don't check up on the patients regularly then we will put them in danger."

"But...but i've heard he's killed people."

Waggling her finger in a follow me motion she pushed a button and the door slid open.

Entering Ally's eyes widened as they met all to familiar eyes.

 _No way. The so called big bad ghoulie king was him?_

And she'd stupidly managed to get him interested in her.

But then, that could work in her favour, she was going to speak to the ghoulies about Tiny anyway.

"Ally" He greeted her with a smirk, "hi."

The resident looked between Ally and the ghoulie king with wide eyes.

Ally realised he had greeted her by name intentionally, to implicate her with his ghoulies, knowing it would cause her discomfort within the ranks of the hospital.

Because there was no doubt the neurologist would report back to his team that Dr James was friendly with the ghoulies.

Even though she was not.

Ally huffed, her lip curling as she rolled her head and eyes.

"Ah, why is it every time I see you feel like fighting?"

The ghoulie laughed, she turned to the resident hiding behind her, knowing if she continued to engage with the ghoulie she'd probably say or do something she'd regret.

"What was the last report?"

The resident straightened his shoulders and stood upright.

"The surgeon said there wasn't too much additional bleeding. He said to administer mannitol and follow up with a CT."

Ally nodded.

"Did you do the CT yet?"

"Oh yeah, the results are probably out."

"Mind if I take a look?

She motioned for the resident to lead her to the doctor's station outside of the ICU ward, following him to a computer.

After he logged in and pulled up the CT she nudged him out of his seat, surveying the scan carefully.

"It's not enough bleeding to warrant another surgery so that's good, i'd talk to the seniors about sending him to a regular ward for observation."

The resident doctor nodded. Ally tilted her chin in a small movement that meant go.

He didn't even hesitate and hurriedly left.

Ally left the computer and returned to the ghoulie.

Malachai, who had previously been stood by his subordinates side, had now flopped into an empty chair, feet propped up against the edge of the bed, he had been in conversation with another ghoulie, but stopped and told them to leave when he saw her return.

Ally swatted his feet down with her hands to get past so she could check on the patients iv.

He pouted because she didn't even spare him a glance.

"My boys told me you used to be in a gang Ally."

He liked using her name because she didn't know his.

"Mmm, I was a bit naughty when I was younger."

The ghoulie grinned and laughed. That explained why she was so comfortable with his ghoulies.

"Ah, you're a fun one doc. Most people don't admit that sort of stuff."

Ally shrugged.

"I neither hide nor advertise it."

"But you do hide somethings, everyone has secrets."

Her hands curled into fists, she stuffed them into the pockets of her scrubs.

"I take it your his guardian?"

Ally questioned, after examining the currently unconscious patient.

"How is he doc?"

She almost thought it looked like he was concerned, maybe he was.

"We're moving him to a normal ward, but that doesn't mean he's out of the clear."

Malachai pursed his lips, nodded.

"Take good care of him doc."

"Of course."

The ghoulie jumped up from his chair, about to leave, halted by Ally who held up a finger.

"Wait a minute,"

He stopped, only because he was curious.

"I have a favour to ask you."

"I don't give favours for free."

"Good, I don't like receiving things for free."

Before the ghoulie could speak she propositioned.

"I want you to forget about that kid Tiny, let him get out of the gang, you've made your point and he's been hurt enough, that ring paid off his debt anyway."

Malachai laughed.

It wasn't the sort of laugh he usually gave her, not a laugh of amusement but instead one that was more dry and empty.

"You often get what you want Ally?"

"Not always, but I know you won't say no to me."

The ghoulie King moved towards her, closer than she was comfortable with, but she didn't move until the last moment when he ducked his head down and their noses almost touched.

"And why is that Allycat?"

"Because you want something from me."

The ghoulies smile was not friendly.

She knew she was playing a dangerous game, but she'd already come this far and it was too late bow out now.

"I'm right aren't I, that's why you wont leave me alone, there's something you want to gain from me isn't there?"

Malachai didn't agree because he didn't know what it was exactly that he wanted from her yet.

"You're a smart one doc, but lets keep things friendly between us now yeah? I like you and I don;t want to stop liking you."

Ally didn't know how to feel about the leader of a gang liking her.

"I think i'm going to keep hating you."

The ghoulie laughed pushing open the door.

He was back to being amused.

"Good luck with that Allycat."

The door closed behind him and Ally stood there for a fraction of a moment before following.

"Hang on a minute wait!"

She grabbed his arm pulling him to a stop.

He turned to her with a smug smile, eyes landing on the fingers wrapped around the arm of his jacket.

She removed her hand from his arm as if she had been stung.

"What about Tiny?"

The ghoulie furrowed his brow, tilted his head and scratched a hand through his hair.

"Who's that?" 


End file.
